With the ease in cloud cover over the last month or so, this winter season is quickly turning into a time where I explore new astronomical targets; well targets that I have never captured before. I have always been impressed with images of the Flaming Star Nebula (IC 405); its shape and unique formation, but I have never stopped long enough to realize it is in the constellation of Auriga, which is not too far away from Taurus and Orion… two of my favorites constellations.
The time spent with IC 405 did not disappoint. I cannot quite decide if the subject of the featured image is the rich hydrogen-alpha region (the actual nebula) or the bright open star cluster in star field 😍.
IC 405 is an emission and reflection nebula surrounding the bluish star AE Aurigae. It is located around 1500 light years away from Earth and its magnitude is about 5 light years across. Reflecting on the concept of light years – if I turned on a light in one corner of this nebula, it would take 5 years for the light to be seen at the furthest edge away from that corner. Yeah, that’s BIG!
There are many goodies in this region, so this trip will not be my last. Stay tuned; but in the meantime, be sure to look up and experience an amazing Universe!
Gear: AA Hypercam 26C, Askar 80 PHQ, HEM27 mount, Optolong L-Ultimate; ZWO OAG + AA120mc
Exif: 56 x 5-min lights; Gain 200, Offset 3, TEC @ 10 degrees; 20 darks
Software: SharpCap, PHD2; AstroPixelProcessor, PixInsight; Photoshop
Amazing! Simply amazing!
Thank you 🙏🏾
Very beautiful work, Drexel.
Thank you very much Roger. I am just happy we had some clear skies which have been much like an endangered species. A prosperous 2026 to you!
Great Image! Great job as usual. I love all the texture of the nebula, and the sharpness of the star images. 👍💯
Thank you Eric. I was pleasantly surprised with this one. I shot with a narrowband filter only, but next time I will include pure RGB data so I could get all of the star colors. I know this target is also a reflection right by the central blue star but the narrowband would not pick it up properly.